Every Crawling Putrid Thing

by David Busboom

In his debut collection, David Busboom presents fifteen tales of dark fantasy and horror, populated by bizarre reptiles, occult serial killers, carnivorous protoplasms, and parasitic worms. A child faces down the giant ape destroying his parents' marriage. A cheating husband wakes up to find his hand replaced by a mucous-covered tentacle. A Midwestern office complex becomes the setting for a ghastly, apocalyptic nightmare.

Within these pages you'll find strange creatures sliding over dark country roads and twilit train tracks, detectives and swordsmen fighting through occult mysteries and marauding fish-men, a shunned filmmaking prodigy's deadly magnum opus, and the seductive death of innocence. You'll find regret, self-destruction, and relationships gone bad.



Here, where weird pulp horror meets the darker sides of love and disillusion, you'll find slime, and stink, and Every Crawling, Putrid Thing.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Dark

166 pages, Paperback

Published April 8, 2022

About the author

David Busboom was raised in a castle his father built in the woods of Champaign County, Illinois. He began writing at age nine, and hasn't stopped yet. He lives in Central Illinois.

Reviews

[Lenore Sagaskie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every Crawling Putrid Thing is a wonderfully creepy collection of stories that lives up to its title. Busboom's collection includes previously published stories such as "The 800-Pound Gorilla in the Room", "The Duelists", and also his novella, "Nightbird". The collection also includes stories that make their first appearance in this collection such as "Can't Stop Here", "Like Nothing You've Ever Seen Before!", "He Who Takes from Gwangi", and "In Kansas". The inclusion of the story notes gives insight into Busboom's inspiration; he pays homage to classic horror movie monsters, dinosaurs, and the influences of Ray Bradbury and H.P. Lovecraft.

I honestly couldn't tell you what story was my favorite in Every Crawling Putrid Thing because after I read each one I had a new favorite. This was to be a one story a night read and ended up being completely finished in an afternoon, during a storm, while tucked under a blanket. You don't have to read it that way, but I highly recommend it.

[Sue Rovens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished Every Crawling, Putrid Thing by David Busboom and need to share my thoughts with potential readers.

Not only does this author KNOW how to construct a compelling story and realistic characters, but he does so with artistic finesse. These short stories (and novella at the end) pull you in and don't let go. While other collections normally have hits as well as misses, David's are all hits. For real. Sure, there were some stories I liked better than others, but that's just personal taste. The quality and intrigue never falter - something that's very difficult for any writer to accomplish.

Most stories lean toward an H.P. Lovecraft bent, but you don't have to wallow into love of heavy sci-fi/fantasy or climb up to the literary highbrow level to enjoy these tales.

This book is a high recommend for anyone who loves well-written, engrossing short stories.

[Andrew Schultheis · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up to 4.

[Stéphane · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s refreshing to see an author who remembers that there is the word “story” in short story. It’s been all too common to see horror anthologies just being a compilation of weird snippets just here to convey an eerie atmosphere. Here you get the Lovecraftian vibe but you also get stories, with characters, beginnings and endings. And it’s something I want to encourage and that other more accomplished authors should remember: Don’t sacrifice the story for the atmosphere. We want both. Congrats to David Busboom for a solid first anthology.

[Oli Jacobs · Rating 3 out of 5]

In all honesty this is more a 3.5 than anything, simply because the majority of the stories in this collection were very good. Specifically, those that dealt with Lovecraftian mythology and dinosaur style monsters, with particular delight coming in the longest tale Nightbird.

But some tales did feel too short, ending just as they felt like they were just getting going, and some of the early tales felt a little too King-lite. Overall though the story quality is fine and the worldbuilding within some of the tales is finely done. Definitely worth a read for horror fans.